Running Away
by MrGooseyMoose
Summary: To leave responsibility behind and just run away. That would be sweet, a freeing adventure. Taito/Yamachi. M for expected sexual content.
1. Ink

**Hey, everybody. Long. Time. No. See!**

 **I don't know about you, but, with all of the excitement in the air lately, I just can't keep stop thinking about my favourite ship. Life is too short to not ride that fanfiction high!**

 **Right?**

 **Right?!**

 **So, what are we waiting for? Let's do it!**

* * *

Chapter One

"Do you think Agumon is cute?" Tai asks.

"Cute?" Matt shrugs, and leans over the apartment block railing, his upper torso beginning to dip over the other side, his mellow gaze staring, mostly unseeing, into the parking lot below. He sways back and forth, holds his position, back and forth and back. A breeze rustles his hair and his jacket.

"Yeah. Cute," Tai responds. "Do you think so?"

Two seconds of silence. Three. Then, "who cares?"

"Aw. You're no fun at all, are you?"

Matt turns to look at Tai. "No fun? I'm only as fun as I've always been." His voice is relaxed. Nonchalant. "You're the one who's no fun anymore."

"What?" Tai gasps, aghast. "What did you just say?!"

"No more adventures. No more fights. No more midnight phone calls or late appearances at my apartment…"

"You suck."

"No more movies," Matt continues, unstifled by Tai's comment. "No more ramen on Saturdays. You know, you just don't want to do anything anymore."

"Tch." Tai leans over the railing, twists, and in a feat of athletic beauty he transitions, and hangs from the railing by his legs. He grumbles to himself.

"I can't hear you down there."

Tai scowls at the blonde. "I said you're an ass. And I don't know why I hang out with you."

Matt tilts his head, and frowns. "Don't take it the wrong way. I still like you. But you're just not that fun anymore. I mean, where's the headstrong impulsivity gone?"

"Headstrong impulsivity?"

"I know, I know. 'But you always complained about how impulsive I was!' I know that. But, now that it's gone, I miss it."

"Did I hear that right, or has the blood gone to my head?"

"You heard me right."

"You want me to be impulsive?"

"Exactly." Matt nods. "I mean, don't drop from the railing or anything stupid like that."

"I wasn't gonna, Matt."

"But do something out of the ordinary that I won't expect. Entertain me."

Tai pulls himself back up to Matt's level, gracefully, and drops his pants to his ankles. Matt, only momentarily startled, gets down on one knee to look levelly at Tai's crotch. He whistles, quietly. Appreciatively. He doesn't lose his cool. Matt never loses his cool, anymore. He prides himself on that.

"What do you think?" Tai asks.

"Heh, well…"

A smug grin. "Impulsive enough for ya?"

"Impulsive, and impressive." Matt reaches forward with his fingers, and touches Tai's warm, tan skin. Matt's fingers are soft, and they tickle as they move towards the border of Tai's underwear. "May I?" Matt asks.

"Go nuts."

Matt lifts the border and sees what he was looking for. "This is why you were asking me about Agumon?"

A nod. "Looks good, right?"

"I never took you for a tattoo kind of guy."

"Yeah, well. I never took you for the kind of guy who would want to touch my groin tattoo."

"Why did you get it here?" Matt asks, as he runs his finger over the mark; from the depiction of Agumon's snout, all the way to his little, yellow dinosaur feet, running the length of two inches along Tai's inner and uppermost thigh.

"So I can hide it. I don't want people to think I'm part of some gang."

"Well, you are. Kind of. You're in the digi-gang." Matt pulls away after one more touch, and returns to his full height. With Tai's briefs sitting in place, only the lower half of the Agumon tattoo can be seen. Tai pulls his pants back up, concealing the rest of it.

"So. You like?" Tai asks.

"I guess."

"You guess?" The brunet stomps on the ground and shoves Matt backwards into the railing. "You guess?! Geez, stop playing it so cool!"

"Okay, okay," Matt rubs his chest, "you caught me. I love it. There's no need to push me around, Tai."

"And? Do you think Agumon is cute?"

"That again?"

"Yeah."

"Why cute?"

"Why not?"

"He's okay. Cute is the wrong word." The blond looks Tai over, quizzically. Where is this going? "But, yeah. Agumon's okay. He's great."

"Is he cool?"

"The coolest," Matt smiles.

"Do you like him?"

"I love him."

"Would you stroke his face if he asked?"

Matt cracks up. "If he asked really nicely, I suppose I would do that."

"Okay. Well." Tai grins. "Stroke my face."

"What?"

"Stroke my face. C'mon."

"Get real."

"What, you'll stroke Agumon's face but not mine?"

"You're –"

"What?" Tai interrupts, balling his fists. "I'm what?"

Matt sighs, and rests his palm sloppily against Tai's face. He sways it from side to side. "Good boy. Easy, there. No need to get so worked up."

"This doesn't feel very affectionate."

"It doesn't?"

"But…I know you're trying. Thanks, Matt."

They sit on the floor, backs against the railing, and they chatter. And bicker a little. And half-heartedly wrestle once or twice. Matt is studying extra hard recently, and it makes him sad because it's putting a dent in his band time. Tai is studying extra, extra hard, lately, and also, he has been told to quit his soccer team so that he can fully devote himself to his college studies. But then, without his team, what would he do? Study extra, extra, extra extra hard? C'mon, that's stupid. Why does everybody around here insist on studying so darn much?

They consider running away.

They consider going to a new world.

But. These considerations are hopes that do not physically manifest. Not tonight. "Okay. Sorry, but I've really got to go now. I can't stay any longer," Matt declares. "Sora wants to see me tonight."

"Yeah, yeah." A wave of a hand. "You gotta do whatcha gotta do. Don't worry."

Matt hums in agreement. "Okay. Well, see you later guys."

"Guys?"

"You, and Agumon down there."

Tai gets to his feet. "Don't tell anyone about my tattoo, Matt. It's for our eyes only. Alright?"

"Gee, you make me feel so special," Matt says, sarcastically. Tai kind of hopes that maybe this isn't sarcasm, though. Maybe it's just some form of special irony; one where your sarcasm means the opposite of what it sounds like; where your sarcasm is so sarcastic that it's actually sincere. It could be a vulnerability avoidance kind of thing. Then again, maybe Matt is just a cocky, ironic sort of bastard, and that's all there is to it.

"I'll try to be more fun," Tai says, as Matt turns to leave. Their eyes meet, and for a moment Tai tries not to look sad. But he can't help it for very long.

Matt nods at him, shallow and friendly and quick. "Your tattoo? It's pretty cute, I guess."

Was that sarcasm? Or sincerity? Shit, it can be so hard to tell.

Matt leaves the block and Tai returns to his apartment, shutting out the night behind him. The quiet seems intolerably loud against his eardrums. He turns on the sports channel, begins to study, and only occasionally traces the spot where Matt was fingering his tattoo. He jerks off on the couch to the thought of Matt reaching even further into his underwear. He imagines how it would feel if Matt was playing with his dick, and calling that cute, too. He pretends that he's fucking Matt's mouth. 'Yeah, you like that, don't you?' Tai whispers. He shoots messily into his tan hand, and wonders if Matt would lick it clean for him, if he were there.

But Matt isn't there, so Tai rinses his hand in the bathroom sink, on his own. He sobs a little bit when he thinks about how long he will be alone for. Probably forever. He sobs a lot when he thinks about how Matt will never kiss him. Then he studies more. Almost orders pizza, but doesn't because he hasn't been to an ATM in days, and his wallet is empty. Crawls into bed. Sleeps.

When he wakes up two hours later, it is to the sound of his cell phone buzzing, and to the sight of its illuminated screen. Matt has sent him a message. "Next Saturday, let's go to a vending machine and buy some beer. And maybe eat some ramen after."

Tai wonders why that couldn't wait until morning. "Why are you awake so late?" he replies.

Matt doesn't answer. Tai dozes off again before he can think too much about it. It's probably nothing worth losing sleep over, anyway.


	2. Creative

Chapter Two

"Why are you awake so late?" Tai's message reads. Why, indeed.

Matt flips his phone shut.

There is a harmonica on Matt's desk. He doesn't play it much lately because it's too noisy, but whenever he looks at it he hears that tune – the tune, the one that makes him feel free, like the wind - and it makes him want to drop everything and fly away, above the clouds, with no ties to anything. He pockets his cell phone and picks up the harmonica. He puts it against his mouth. Breathes through it quietly. There's a twitch of movement behind him, and he freezes. Uh oh. Has he been too noisy?

No. It's okay.

Between studying, and being with Sora, and having touchy neighbours on all sides, it can be kind of hard to reconnect with the musician that lives inside of him. Not that Matt holds any resentment about that. He's just disappointed, really. And a little sad. Okay, maybe dejected is more like it. And totally lost in the world, confused about what he wants to do, and where he wants to be.

Bah.

He needs to write a song.

A great song.

It will have this kicking harmonica tune: waa, wa-oh wa-oh waa, ouu! And a killer drum beat: boom chi chi chi boom, chi boom, chi boom chi chi chi boom, pah pah! And heartfelt lyrics! Like, um, something about. Well.

Shit.

Okay so it will be an instrumental song. No lyrics whatsoever. Fine.

It'll have guitars. Absolutely. Chica chica chica, and twang twing twa-twa-twang and doo ba do bee doo ba yeah yeah ow! He can hear it now. It's all coming together. If only he could play his damn guitar and flesh it out like it deserves.

For now, he writes down the music from his head onto the scrap notepad on his desk. It's too dark to read what he's writing. He can only hope that the bars are straight and that the notes are in the right places, and crap, there really should be a rest somewhere around here to emphasize the, yeah, the kick right here and oh here comes that crackle of electric pow wah with -

"Are you okay?" Sora asks, quietly, softly, so that she doesn't startle.

Matt answers, "Just writing a song."

Sora sits up. "If I'd known this was your music time I wouldn't have come over, you know. I don't want to be in your way."

"It's not my music time. I don't have music time anymore. This is just…" Matt smiles, and begins to snigger into his fist.

"What?"

"Nothing. I was going to say, 'this is just an impulse,' but that reminds me of…"

"What?"

"I can't say."

"You can't say? Now you have to say," Sora says, good-naturedly.

"It's Tai. He said I can't tell anybody."

"Not even me?"

"Not even you. Sorry, Sora."

"Okay. I'll ask him when I see him. He doesn't keep anything from me if I ask him straight." She lays back down, yawning sleepily. "Don't stay up too late, okay?"

"Um hum. And I'll try to be quiet."

"Don't worry. Hearing you scratch your pencil against that paper is nice. It's relaxing." Sora becomes quiet. Matt smiles. Exhales. Lifts his pencil. But, oh. No. He's lost the music. The song is all dried up. He doodles a picture of Agumon with a big, dripping penis for a nose, instead, and that makes him feel better. Tai would be proud of it, Matt thinks.

Boom boom bam! Boom boom du du huh! Boom boom bam du, uh, no, that's not it. How did it go? "Tch." He definitely can't remember the drum beat anymore. Did he write it down? He wrote the harmonica part down, and some of the rhythm guitar, for sure. But did he write down any of the drum beat? He has a feeling that he didn't. Shame. It was good. It was happenin'. It was cool. Too cool, even.

Just like Matt.

Heh.

Too cool. That's what Tai used to call Matt. Too cool. Too freaking cool. Was that sarcasm on Tai's part, or jealousy? Maybe a little of both.

Matt leans back in his chair and falls asleep pretty quickly. He dreams of beautiful music, most of which he can't remember when he wakes up that morning, and all of which he can't replicate with his conscious mind. Sora is already gone by the time that Matt gets to his feet. There's a sticky note on his forehead, he notices, when he looks in the bathroom mirror a little later. "Sorry. Errands to run. I won't mention the erotic Digimon doodle if you don't. See you."

What a cute little message.

Matt gets ready for college and heads out. It's warm, and humid outside. He's sweating within minutes. "I couldn't sleep. Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you," Matt types into his cell phone, finally replying to Tai.

Tai responds. "It happens. How's Sora?"

"She good."

"How're you?"

"I'm fine."

"Nice. Work hard at college today!" Tai says.

Matt smiles, and puts away his cell. "Like I need him to tell me that." He studies for eight hours over the course of that day, and within that period he absolutely doesn't think of Tai at all. Nope. Not one bit. He can't stop drawing Agumons, though. He draws a pretty great one, in fact, in a bright, blue marker pen, in one of the toilet stalls when he goes to the bathroom. It's detailed, and, huh, what do you know? Cute.

Maybe Matt should get a Gabumon tattoo.

Somewhere easily concealed.

That would drive Tai _nuts_.

'If I do really well in my next exam,' Matt thinks, 'I'll treat myself.'

* * *

 **I wonder who else is kicking around this place. Please, leave a review to tell me your thoughts, or send me a message to say hi! Or both! Yeah, both would be swell.**

 **I live in Japan right now, and I don't have an internet connection in my apartment. So when I'm not working, on Mondays or Tuesdays, I'm going to pop into Starbucks to upload whatever I've written over the week. I should be putting up a chapter or two every week.**

 **So...see ya next week!**


	3. Juicy

Chapter Three

Thursday evening. A buzz at Tai's front door. The brunet puts down his textbook, which he wasn't really reading anyway, more just staring at, and greets his unexpected guest with a look of confusion on his face. "Um. Today isn't Saturday."

"You're smarter than people give you credit for," comes the deadpan response. "All of that studying must be paying off."

"Don't be rude, stupid," Tai says.

"Sorry."

"What are you doing here?"

Matt's lips break out in a grin.

Tai feels a little creeped out. Matt never smiles like that. "What's wrong?" Tai asks, hesitantly.

"Not wrong. Right," Matt says, in a voice so content, so carefree, that it almost doesn't sound like him at all. "And the answer? Everything."

"You look really sweaty." Tai decides that he likes how Matt looks when he's sweaty. He would like to see that more often. "Did you run all the way here?"

A nod. "I was excited. I brought you something."

Tai glances at the grocery bag in Matt's hand. "Food?"

"Not just food." Creepy smile. Big inhalation. Hunched shoulders. "Watermelon!"

Gasp. "Seriously?"

"Two quarters for the price of one."

"Awesome! And you brought some for me?"

"Of course."

"Gee, I haven't had watermelon in so long. Just thinking about it reminds me of home!"

They go inside and Matt gets comfortable on Tai's couch. Tai looks for some plates for the watermelon, but most of his dishes are dirty. He finds a couple of napkins, though. Maybe that will do? It's not like Matt's expecting high quality service. Tai sits down next to his friend, and together they stare, awestruck, at the brightly coloured fruit that sits on the coffee table in front of them. Tai drools a little bit. Matt rubs his hands together. And then they lunge forward, as one.

"It's so…beautiful!" Matt exclaims, intermittently removing seeds with his fingers between bites. "So, so beautiful."

"Dude, I could cry," Tai shamelessly declares, biting, chewing, spitting seeds out and swallowing the juicy, red fruit in great chunks. "It's sad that Koromon isn't here. Boy oh boy, does he loves watermelon."

"Well, at least Agumon is," Matt says humorously through his serving. Pink, fruity juice is dribbling down his chin. Decency is unimportant when it comes to watermelon.

"Heh. Right."

"Oh," Matt begins, swallowing hungrily. "By the way. I let slip to Sora that you did something impulsive and exciting. She's probably going to ask you about that."

"Aw, man." Gnash. Chew. Swallow. "Why'd you go and do that?"

"Accident."

Tai ponders for a moment. "I'll tell her that I started gambling."

"What, you don't get enough lectures at class? You need one from Sora, too?" Matt says through a mouthful of melon.

"Good point. Maybe I'll just avoid her until I come up with a better story."

"Aren't you playing tennis with her tomorrow?"

Tai chews slowly, thoughtfully. Then, "Shit."

"You could tell her the truth, you know."

"I guess. But then she would want to see it. And I can't show it to her."

"Why not?"

"Because it's…you know where. It would be indecent."

"You showed me."

"It's different with you."

"How?"

"Because you're Matt. And she's not Matt."

Matt considers the implication of such a statement while he rustles through his grocery bag, pulling out a couple of beer cans that he purchased from the vending machine outside. "You're such a numbskull," he says, unsure of how else to reply. He hands a beer to Tai.

"Hey. You're being rude again," Tai says, opening the drink and sipping at it.

"Don't take it the wrong way." Matt raps his knuckles against Tai's head. "I love that about you."

"You do?"

"Yeah. But that doesn't change the fact that you're a numbskull, Tai."

They finish off their watermelon, quietly and comfortably. Tai wants to lick Matt's chin clean, but before he can act on his desires, Matt wipes his face with one of the napkins that Tai had given him earlier. And then blue eyes lock onto brown ones. "Is something wrong?" Matt asks.

"No. Nothing at all." Tai gulps down more beer.

"Then what are you staring at?"

"Nothing." He sighs, placing a hand behind his head and leaning back on his couch. "I was just thinking that being with you is like, uh, being on vacation."

A sip of beer. "Huh."

"I wish I could always hang out with you," Tai continues, "and never go to college. Don't'cha agree?"

A larger sip of beer. "Hm."

"Real life sucks. All of this responsibility; it's so…unadventurous." Tai smirks, wolfishly. "I want to do something exciting."

"Uh huh." Matt chugs down half of his drink. It's smooth, and though it's bitter, it's pretty delicious. He wishes that he could try it more. How long until drinking becomes legal? Less than one year, is it? He can't wait.

"Most of all, I want to do something exciting with you. We can't go to Digiworld, just the two of us. But we can go somewhere in the real world. Maybe somewhere we've never been."

"Are you serious?"

Tai's adventurous smile breaks, and he looks at his drink. "I'm not sure anymore. Maybe. It would be nice, but unrealistic. I would be a bad leader if I led us into a silly situation, right?"

Matt turns to face Tai, a cold clarity alive in his bright eyes. "Let's go right now."

Tai scoffs. Then, "Where?"

"Anywhere."

Is Matt already drunk? Is Tai? He isn't sure. "Can we use an ATM first?"

"Yes."

"Should I pack anything?"

Matt looks Tai up and down. Tai wishes, for a second, that his dick was erect so that Matt would think him well endowed. But then he realizes how stupid that sounds. "Extra socks?" Matt suggests.

"Hm." Tai finishes his drink, stares at the socks that he's wearing, and sighs sadly.

"You do want to," Matt asks, sympathetically, "right?"

"Well, sure, but I…"

"Then let's do it! Before rationality can get in the way. Let's just do it. Get on a train. Next stop, anywhere that isn't here!"

"Y'know, you're pretty sly. You had me believing _I_ was the impulsive one." Tai feels like he's seated not upon his couch, but upon the edge of some precipice. He's dangling his feet over his new life. If he teeters forward; if he takes the plunge and survives the drop, maybe he can escape from everything. Studying, job hunting, social expectations. It could all go away. Right? "I'm gonna need another beer."

* * *

 **Thanks so much for reading. I'm feeling pretty excited about this story. If you feel the same way, then please follow the story and come back for more. Moreover, if you have any suggestions or comments, then please leave a review. It's very motivating to hear from you. Cheers!**


	4. Impulse

Chapter Four

Matt and Tai are riding a train and chattering quietly to each other. They're heading north. They plan to go to the end of the line and then hitchhike somewhere else, because hitchhiking is a very adventurous thing to do. Then they will borrow a car and drive somewhere, ditch the car, become outlaws, join a soccer team, write songs, find happiness. Or something along those lines. It seems like a pretty solid plan, really, as long as you don't squint too hard at it and glimpse the nonsense.

Tai has brought a little satchel bag with him. Inside, it has two pairs of extra socks, a cell phone charger and a Nintendo. Some snacks, too. Ready for adventure.

Near the end of their train ride, Matt tells Tai about his plan to get a Gabumon tattoo. It was dependent on whether Matt did well in his next exam, he explains, but Tai concludes that, since they will no longer be doing exams in their new lives, Matt should go ahead and get the tattoo as soon as possible. "Where would you like to have it?" Tai asks. "Next to your balls, like me?"

"Don't be so crude in public, Tai," Matt scolds, and simultaneously laughs. "But since you mention it…maybe, on my butt?"

Tai absolutely did not need that image in his head. "That would be, uh-"

"Stupid. Right?" Matt sounds extremely pleased with himself.

Tai beams. "Positively. You'll show me when you get it done, right?" Tai imagines that the skin around it would probably be bright red, at first, as if the blonde had been spanked a little for being naughty. If given the opportunity, Tai would make Matt's butt look bright red all over. An overdue spank for every sarcastic comment. That would add up to a long time bent over Tai's knee. If, that is, blondie is into spanking. Maybe he won't like it.

"I don't know," Matt shrugs. "I might get nervous about showing an ass-tat off."

"Aw, c'mon. I don't bite. Unless," Tai begins. He swallows his nerves. "Unless, y'know, you like that sort of thing."

Matt beams. "You're such a perv."

They reach the end of the line earlier than expected, and find themselves in a small town. The only people outside seem to be business men and women returning home. There's very little traffic on the roads, too. It could be hard to find a ride here. They get back on the train, ride for a couple of stops and then get off someplace more populated. "This is more like it."

A few minutes pass by. Then, "How do we hitch hike?"

"I don't know."

"Oh. Maybe if we go to a bar we could ask somebody." Matt suggests, the alcohol in his body creating a wonderful sense of confidence, and direction. They find a small, friendly looking place nearby, and enter. To be polite they buy a drink each, too.

"What did I order? This is horrible…" Tai laments when he subsequently receives his concoction. His tongue hangs from his mouth, unhappily.

"Tell me about it," Matt grumbles. He pushes his drink to the side. "Excuse me," he says to the bartender. "Do you know anybody around here who could give us a ride up north?"

"This is a bar. Everybody here has been drinking, pal. Not exactly prime driving material."

"Oh. Yeah." Matt scratches his head. He whispers to Tai, "I'm the world's hugest idiot. Sorry."

The bartender leans closer to them. "You know, you two look sort of young."

"I moisturize, what can I say?" Tai retorts. He attempts to down his horrible drink, as a symbolic gesture of his adulthood, but only makes it halfway. He grimaces. "Let's go, Matt, before I puke."

Matt finishes his drink, holding onto that deadpan expression of his as he swallows every horrific mouthful, and then Tai drags him outside.

"Let's do karaoke!" the brunet says.

"Good idea!" Matt agrees, too stimulated to remember that karaoke is definitely not a part of their revolutionary, freeing plan. They make their way to the main street and enter a gloriously lit up karaoke building. They only stumble once or twice along the way. "It's kind of expensive in here, isn't it?"

"It'll be worth it to hear me sing!"

Matt giggles. "I've heard you sing. A lot. And let me tell you, Mr Taichi, it is not…"

"Two please!" Tai interrupts, smiling the widest smile of his life.

Thirty minutes pass. A serving of sake is drained. Their fifth song ends. "Tai, I feel like I'm flying. Like I'm the wind."

"Is that so?" Tai says, hoping that Matt will keep talking for long enough to let Tai pick the sixth song in a row.

"I feel like I could do anything."

Tai succeeds in selecting another song. "Anything, huh?"

"Anything," Matt reiterates, a timid smile forming on his blushing face. He moves closer to Tai, snakes his microphone wielding hand around Tai's waist, and runs the thinner, back end of it between Tai's butt cheeks. And then, when the brunet's eyes stretch wide, and his wet tongue licks his dried lips, the next song begins to play and Matt jumps chirpily back into position, his mic raised to his mouth.

"Hey, you love this song!" Matt says. "I have great taste in music, don't I?"

"You didn't pick it, you doofus." Taichi halts, stamping on the ground. Matt doesn't appear to be listening to him. "Aw, forget the darn song. I need to go to the bathroom. Okay?"

"Okay, then I'll just-"

"You're coming too."

For a second, Matt regains his cool, unflappable, mild expression, and with a shrug he says, "Whatever." He drops his microphone on the couch behind him, his hips wiggling to the song, and he takes Tai's hand. He's careful not to let any of the karaoke staff see the tent in his pants as he's dragged away. Matt's practiced straight face can't, it seems, hide everything.

* * *

 **Heh. Heh heh heh. Heh heh. Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh.**


End file.
